Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) are in danger of not receiving the care they need due to a breakdown in government plans to support them, a new report by London Councils reveals.

The Home Office’s National Transfer Scheme was created to share responsibility for caring for UASC, but in the first quarter of 2019, not a single UASC was transferred from London through the National Transfer Scheme, compared to 33 transferred in the equivalent period in 2018, a clear sign that the system is broken.

Cllr Nickie Aiken, London Councils’ Executive member for Schools and Children’s Services, said: “It is hugely worrying that the Home Office’s National Transfer Scheme is not working. London boroughs fear this will leave us unable to cope with caring for growing numbers of UASC.

“We urgently need additional funding and an open dialogue with government to get the National Transfer Scheme up and running again.”

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